Afternoon Off (ITV 3 Feb 1979, Philip Jackson, Henry Man)

Afternoon Off was a drama broadcast on 3 February 1979 on the ITV Network, it was the fourth in a collection of plays that went out as Six Plays by Alan Bennett. Henry Man played Lee, an oriental hotel waiter with no English who is searching for a woman called Iris (Sherrie Hewson) because he thinks she is interested in him romantically.

The cast also included Philip Jackson as Bernard as well as not famous yet Pete Postlethwaite as an art gallery Attendant. In fact the cast had quite a few Bennett favourites like Thora Hird and Stephanie Cole, as well as an appearance from Bennett himself. See below for the full cast list.

Alan Bennett, naturally enough wrote the script and Stephen Frears directed.

It was made for ITV by London Weekend Television and ran for 68 minutes.

full cast
Henry Man as Lee
Benjamin Whitrow as Father
Angela Morant as Mother
Pasquale Perrino as Maitre d’
Harold Innocent as Marjory
Pete Postlethwaite as Attendant in Art Gallery
Stan Richards as Man in Art Gallery
Harry Markham as Harry
Jackie Shinn as Jackie
Elizabeth Spriggs as Miss Beckinsale
Peter Butterworth as Mr Bywaters
Joan Scott as Manageress of Shoe Shop
Angela Curran as Shirley
Carol Macready as Customer in Shoe Shop
Patricia Baker as Iris Butterfield
Douglas Quarterman as Ernest Fletcher
Alan Bennett as Mr Petty
Janine Duvitski as Doreen
Richard Griffiths as Factory Boss
John Normington as Duggie
Paul Shane as Alf
Neville Smith as Cyril
Bernard Wrigley as Vic
Anna Massey as Coffee Shop Owner
Stephanie Cole as Customer
Sylvia Brayshay as Hospital Orderly
Vicky Ireland as 2nd Orderly
Thora Hird as Mrs Beevers
Jeanne Doree as Old Iris
Frank Crompton as Mr Beevers
Lucita Lijertwood as Nurse